The Dating of Neologisms in Corominas' Etymological Dictionaries

Abstract

Since the appearance of Joan Corominas' Diccionario critico etimol6gico de la lengua castellana (Madrid and Bern, 1955-1957) a number of reviews have appeared in which dates earlier than those given by Corominas are given for certain words.' Emphasis was placed on the earlier periods in the history of the Spanish language and various medieval and Golden Age writers were found to have used a given word prior to the date mentioned by Corominas. The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate that a number of nineteenth and twentieth-century words (called here neologisms for want of a more suitable term) were in fact found in print earlier than the date given for them by the eminent Spanish linguist. Reference will be made both to the Diccionario critico and to the Breve Diccionario etimol6gico de la lengua castellana (Madrid, 1961) since the latter often represents a more recent view on the part of the author.2